A burned out car lies among the charred remains of a home destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A San Diego Cal Fire firefighter monitors a flare up on a the head of a wildfire (the Southern LNU Complex), off of High Road above the Sonoma Valley, Wednesday Oct. 11, 2017, in Sonoma, Calif. A wind shift caused flames to move quickly up hill and threaten homes in the area. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP)

Homes on Sky Farm Drive in the middle of the frame are decimated, as is the rest of Fountaingrove, Wednesday Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Kent Porter/The Press Democrat via AP)

Sound

The gallery will resume inseconds

Historic artifacts are removed from the Sonoma State Historic Park, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Sonoma, Calif. With fire raging around the area, authorities removed historic items for safe keeping. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

An empty Lincoln Street is shown after residents evacuated Calistoga, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. The entire historic town of Calistoga, population 5,000, was evacuated. In neighboring Sonoma County, authorities issued an evacuation advisory for part of the town of Sonoma and the community of Boyes Hot Springs. By that time, lines of cars were already fleeing. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Flames burn along a ridge above Sonoma, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. An advisory evacuation was issued for residents of the area as the fire moved toward the historic town. Officials say they have thousands of firefighters battling almost two dozen blazes burning in Northern California and that more are coming from nearby states. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

The view of the downtown San Jose, Calif., is filled with a smoky haze seen from the 18th floor of San Jose City Hall Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. Officials say they have thousands of firefighters battling almost two dozen blazes burning in Northern California and that more are coming from nearby states. (Josie Lep/San Jose Mercury News via AP)

This Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 satellite image using a Very Near Infrared (VNIR) provided by DigitalGlobe shows damage from the wildfire near Santa Rosa, Calif. VNIR imagery causes healthy vegetation to appear red and the burn scar from the wildfire to be dark brown. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (Digital Globe via AP)

This Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, satellite image using shortwave infrared (SWIR) provided by DigitalGlobe shows damage from the wildfire in Santa Rosa, Calif. SWIR imagery allows for the ability to see though smoke to identify active fires, top left. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (Digital Globe via AP)

This Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017 satellite image using a Very Near Infrared (VNIR) provided by DigitalGlobe shows damage from the wildfire near Santa Rosa, Calif. VNIR imagery causes healthy vegetation to appear red and the burn scar from the wildfire to be dark brown. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (Digital Globe via AP)

This Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017, satellite image using shortwave infrared (SWIR) provided by DigitalGlobe shows damage from the wildfire near Santa Rosa, Calif. SWIR imagery allows for the ability to see though smoke to identify active fires, top. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (Digital Globe via AP)

Charred ground and only a few pieces are the remains of the historic Fountaingrove Round Barn Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. The barn was built in 1899 and was a hillside landmark. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Jim Merriman, right, and his wife Lu, have a meal while spending the evening at a Red Cross disaster relief center Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. The couple had to evacuate from their home in the Mendocino Woods neighborhood of Santa Rosa. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

A couple makes their way into a Red Cross disaster relief center Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Two women, sort through the rubble of the property on 106 West Gate Drive in Napa, Calif., on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. The property is where an elderly couple, died during the fire last Sunday, Oct. 8, 2017. (Ray Chavez /San Jose Mercury News via AP)

Burned by the Tubbs fire, only a pool remains among the ashes of an Old Redwood Highway complex near Mark West Springs Road, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, California. (Karl Mondon /San Jose Mercury News via AP)

Chris Shiery pets his dog, Ruby, while waiting to evacuate the town of Sonoma, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. With fires getting near, the town was placed under a voluntary evacuation order. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Oakland Police officer Anh Nguyen spray paints the street to mark that a house in Calistoga, Calif., is vacant on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. The entire historic town of Calistoga, population 5,000, was evacuated. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Marshall Hayman, 26, and his family stay after a mandatory evacuation order issued on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Calistoga, Calif. He lost his home in Calistoga on the first day of the fire. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

CORRECTS TO STAY INSTEAD OF ARE AT HOME Mason Heyman, 18, and his family stay after a mandatory evacuation order issued on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Calistoga, Calif. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

A rooster walks by one of several burned out vehicles after a wildfire destroyed a home and farm on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Calistoga, Calif. Three days after the fires began, firefighters were still unable to gain control of the blazes that had turned entire Northern California neighborhoods to ash and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. (Paul Kitagaki Jr./The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Tammy Christiansen searches the remains of her Coffey Park neighborhood home Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. During her search she found her wedding ring and her son’s wrestling trophy. Officials say they have thousands of firefighters battling 22 blazes burning in Northern California and that more are coming from nearby states. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Tammy Christiansen holds out her wedding ring along with her son’s wrestling trophy that she found after searching the remains of her burned Coffey Park neighborhood home Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

Homes burned by a wildfire are seen Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017, in Santa Rosa, Calif. Wildfires whipped by powerful winds swept through Northern California sending residents on a headlong flight to safety through smoke and flames as homes burned. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Colby Clark of San Francisco, left, comforts her mother, Bonnie Trexler, after being escorted by law enforcement to her home in Silverado Highland to retrieve medicine and some personal items on Wednesday, Oct., 11, 2017 in Napa, Calif. Trexler was one of the lucky few who found that her home was spared from the devastating fire which burned homes around her Monday. (Randy Pench /The Sacramento Bee via AP)

Resident Ryan Nelson goes through the ruins of his house to try to find his grandfather’s rifles in Santa Rosa, Calif., Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. As his house filled with smoke from one of California’s devastating wine country fires, Nelson’s thoughts went to his elderly neighbors, one of whom has multiple sclerosis. He ran over and pounded on their doors and windows, but wasn’t able to get their attention. Now he fears they didn’t make it out and wonders whether he could have done more to help. (AP Photo/Jonathan Copper)

Cal Fire forester Kim Sone is framed by a fallen basketball hoop as she inspects damage at homes destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

An exterior window frames a home destroyed by fires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Cal Fire forester Kim Sone inspects damage at homes destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A burned out car lies among the charred remains of a home destroyed by wildfires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Cal Fire forester Kim Sone inspects damage at homes destroyed by fires in Santa Rosa, Calif., Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017. Gusting winds and dry air forecast for Thursday could drive the next wave of devastating wildfires that are already well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SONOMA — Search-and-rescue teams, some with cadaver dogs, started looking for bodies Thursday in parts of California wine country devastated by wildfires, authorities said, sounding a warning that more dead were almost sure to emerge from the charred ruins.

At least 26 people have died and some 3,500 homes and businesses have been destroyed by the blazes, which were well on their way to becoming the deadliest and most destructive in California history.

Sonoma County Sheriff Robert Giordano said officials were still investigating hundreds of reports of missing people and that recovery teams would soon begin conducting “targeted searches” for specific residents at their last known addresses.

“We have found bodies almost completely intact, and we have found bodies that were nothing more than ash and bones,” the sheriff said.

Some remains have been identified using medical devices that turned up in the scorched heaps that were once homes.

“There have been IDs in this case, in a pile of ash and bone, where there was a piece of metal left from somebody’s surgery, like a hip replacement, with an ID number that helped us identify the person,” he said.

Winds up to 45 mph were expected Thursday in areas north of San Francisco and stronger, more erratic wind gusts were forecast for Friday. Those conditions could erase modest gains made by firefighters.

“We are not out of this emergency. We are not even close to being out of this emergency,” Emergency Operations Director Mark Ghilarducci told a news conference Thursday.

More than 8,000 firefighters were battling the blazes and more manpower and equipment was pouring in from across the country and from as far as Australia and Canada, officials said.

The ferocious fires that started Sunday leveled entire neighborhoods in parts of Sonoma and Napa counties. In anticipation of the next round of flames, entire cities evacuated, leaving their streets empty, with the only motion coming from ashes falling like snowflakes.

Fire officials are investigating downed power lines and other utility equipment failures as possible causes of the fires, said California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokeswoman Janet Upton. She said it’s unclear if downed power lines and live wires resulted from fires or started them.

Jennifer Robison of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. says the utility is focused on restoring power and maintaining safety. She says they will not speculate about the causes of the fires.

An estimated 25,000 people have been driven from their homes by the flames, officials said. A few left behind cookies for firefighters and signs reading, “Please save our home!”

In Calistoga, a historic resort town known for wine tastings and hot springs, 5,300 people were under evacuation orders.

As the wildfires raged for a fourth day, they have continued to grow in size and cross county lines. A total count of 22 fires on Wednesday changed to 21 on Thursday because two large fires had merged together, said state Fire Chief Ken Pimlott.

Many burned out of control, spanning more than 304 square miles, an area that if taken together was equivalent to the size of New York City’s five boroughs.

Strategic attacks that have curbed destruction and death tolls in recent years have not worked against the ferocity of the blazes.

Officials say fire crews have some progress on the deadliest fire in Sonoma County, bringing containment to 10 percent.

Helicopters and air tankers assisted thousands of firefighters who were trying to beat back the flames. Until now, the efforts have focused on “life safety” rather than extinguishing the blazes, partly because the flames were shifting with winds and targeting communities without warning.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.